Buns

I've tried a few different recipes for hamburger buns and have failed a few times. A couple weeks ago I found this and decided to give buns another try, making a few changes. The first time they turned out really "tall" but tasted yummy! The second time around, they were normal sized. Brent says they are very filling, but I think that's normal with any homemade breads.

The second time, I also made some into hot dog buns and those turned out great too! I forgot to take a picture, but they look like normal hot dog buns!

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 eggs (one for the dough and one for an egg wash)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water. 
2. Mix in oil and sugar and let sit for a few minutes.
3. Add 1 egg, salt, and whole wheat flour and mix with flat beater attachment on speed 2 until smooth.
4. Add 1 cup of all purpose flour and mix on speed 2 until smooth.
5. Switch to the dough hook attachment. Add the rest of the all purpose flour a 1/2 cup at a time, while kneading dough on speed 2. Once all flour is mixed in, continue to knead dough for about 2 minutes.
6. Preheat over to 425* and a grease cookie sheet.
7. Break dough into 12 similar sized balls, shape like buns and put on cookie sheet.
8. Cover and let rise for 10 minutes.
9. Coat buns with egg wash and bake for 10 minutes.

Pizza Crust

Pizza is a frequent meal in our house... or at least was until this whole dairy free thing started...

My husband's favorite crust is the just add water Betty Crocker packets from the store. I tend to lean towards them too because they provide a nice thin crust pizza and most homemade recipes make too thick of a crust. When I saw that a pizza crust recipe came in the book that came with my kitchen aid, I decided to give it a try. This first time it was a little thicker than we like, the after that, I make a few breadsticks from the dough to go along with the pizza and the rest of the dough made a great crust for our family.

Here's the recipe from KitchenAid

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 teaspoon yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I used 1 cup whole wheat and the rest all purpose)
• 1 tablespoon cornmeal

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixer bowl. Add salt, oilve oil, and 2 1/2 cups flour. Mix for about a minute on speed 2
2. Continuing on Speed 2, add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and mix until dough clings to hook. Kneed on speed 2 for about 2 minutes longer.
3. Place dough in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover, let rise in a warm place for about an hour. Punch down down.
4. Brush pizza pan with oil. Sprinkle with cornmeal. Press dough onto pan, forming a collar around the edge to hold toppings. Add toppings as desired.
5. Bake at 450* for 15 to 20 minutes.

Whole Wheat Bread

It took me a while to find a recipe that worked for one loaf of whole wheat bread. Most of the recipes that I found that I liked, made two loafs and didn't turn out right if I cut the recipes in half. I really like the Egg Rich Bread recipe from the Betty Crocker Cookbook, so I changed it around a little bit and came up with this.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
• 1 cup HOT water
• 2 tablespoons applesauce
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1. In mixer, mixer 1 1/2 cup flour, sugar, salt, and yeast with flat beater attachment.
2. Add hot water, oil, and egg and mix until smooth.
3. Add 1/2 cup all purpose flour and continue mixing until smooth.
4. Change to dough hook attachment and add the rest of the all purpose flour 1/2 cup at a time.
5. Kneed dough on speed 2 for about 3 minutes.
6. Place dough ball in a greased (I normally use coconut oil, but shortening works too) covered bowl  in a warm place for about an hour until doubled in size. 
7. Roll out dough (I really use my hands) to a roughly an 8x10 rectangle.
8. Roll dough to form loaf.
9. Place loaf in a greased bread pan (I normally cover my loaf in coconut oil as well). 
10. Cover and let rise for about an hour.
11. Bake at 375* for 35 minutes. Remove from pan to cool once out of the oven.

After kneeding

Formed loaf ready for second rise

Garlic Bread

Who doesn't love garlic bread with pasta! I took the Rich Egg Bread from my Betty Crocker cookbook and changed a few things to come up with this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons garlic salt
• 2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
• 1 cup HOT water
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup garlic powder

1. In mixer, mixer 1 1/2 cup flour, sugar, garlic salt, and yeast with flat beater attachment.
2. Add hot water, oil, and egg and mix until smooth.
3. Add 1/2 cup flour and continue mixing until smooth.
4. Change to dough hook attachment and add the rest of the flour 1/2 cup at a time.
5. Kneed dough on speed 2 for about 3 minutes.
6. Place dough ball in a greased (I normally use coconut oil, but shortening works too) covered bowl  in a warm place for about an hour until doubled in size. 
7. Roll out dough (I really use my hands) to a roughly an 8x10 rectangle.
8. Rub garlic powered on dough.
9. Roll dough to form loaf.
10. Place loaf in a greased bread pan (I normally cover my loaf in coconut oil as well). 
11. Cover and let rise for about an hour.
12. Bake at 375* for 35 minutes. Remove from pan to cool once out of the oven.

Whole Wheat Pancakes

I used to love one of the "fancy" Bisquick pancake recipes, but when I decided to stop using Bisquick, this recipe became my favorite. I took the recipe out if my Betty Crocker Cookbook and made some changes and this is what I ended up with.

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons applesauce
•  2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• A dash of salt

1. Preheat griddle to 300*
2. Beat egg in bowl with a whisk
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix together with whisk
4. Pour batter onto griddle, making pancakes about three inches in diameter
5. Flip pancakes once they are bubbly (about two minutes) and cook for about two more minutes
6. Topping with your favorite toppings and eat!

Makes 16 pancakes.

The beaten egg

The batter all mixed

Ready to be flipped

All done

A New Blog!

The past couple months as I have been baking and cooking more and more from scratch, I've been thinking about creating a new blog to help myself keep track of recipes that work well. And yesterday, I finally decided that I was going to do it. It's mostly for my own benefit, but will also make sharing recipes with friends easier.

So yeah... here we go! Hopefully I'll have my first official recipe post up soon!